Bundle compressor



May 13, 1952 Filed Oct. 2, 1947 v. L. STROHM ET AL BUNDLE COMPRESSOR 2SHEETS-SHEET 1 j I I Z4 awn 25- J/CH VEE/VO/V A. fiTea/M 0/70 EUGENE E.MEL/J THEIR ATTORNEY.

INVENTOR5Z M y 1952 v. STROHM El AL 2,596,797

BUNDLE COMPRESSOR Filed 001:. 2, 1947 I 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 56 5060 5 6.Aazr,

.i/ THEIR ATTORNEY.

l INVENTORS. V VEP/VU/V jTFOH/V 400 Patented May 13, 1952 UNITED S TATESPATEN OFFICE BUNDLE' COMPRES SOR' Vernon L.- Strohm and Eugene R.KeIIy';- Waukegan 'Ill., assignors to United states Steel Company, acorporation of New Jersey; Application October '2, 1947, Serial No.777,572

40mins. (c1. ion-#31)" This invention relates :to methods and apparatusfor compressing bundles, particularly for compressing annular bundles'ofwireor rod prior to charging the same to a normalizing furnace andthereby increasing furnace capacity.

An-object of the invention is to'provide'improved bundle compressingapparatus operated by fluidpressure means in which-the" working parts oftheappar'atus are situated 'beneath'floor level and'thus doino't occupyneededspace above the floor. J

A further-object of the invention is to provide improved apparatus andmethods for preparing annular-bundles of wire or rod-for chargin to anormalizing furnace; the apparatus being designed to' compress one ormore bundles in a vertical direction, whereby a larger number ofbundles'can'be chargedto the furnace. 4 7

A further object of the invention is to provide improved methods ofincreasing the capacity of wire of 'rod normalizing furnaces wherein the7 wire or rod in annular bundles is compressed preliminary toentering'the' furnace.

In accomplishing these and other objects of the present'invention, wehave provided improved details of structur'ef'a preferred form of whichis shown in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a side elevational view, partly in section, of. animprovedfibundle compressor embodying features of the present invention;

Figure 2 is a vertical sectional view taken substantially on line 11-11of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a top plan'view of the compressor;

Figure 4 is a horizontal sectional view taken substantially on lineIV--IV of Figure 2; and s Figure 5 is a detailed sectional view takensubstantially on line V-V of Figure 4. n

Referring more in detail to the drawings:

In Figures 1 and '2 there is shown a fioorsection l beneath which aresituated the working parts of the bundle compresson designated II. Thefloor section shown is immediately in front of the charging end of awire orrod normalizing furnace, not shown, but which is adapted toreceive annular bundles of wire or rod I2.

The number of bundles that may constitute a single charge is limited bythe furnace height; hence, by compressing the bundles it is possible tocharge a larger number.

A hydraulic or pneumatic cylinder I3 is suspended from beneath floorIi]. In the construction illustrated the floor is supported on I-beamsl4 and said cylinder is pivoted to a guide bracket I welded to the lowerflange of one of said I-beams, the pivotal connection being indicatedabove the working parts H of the compression,

i 2 at 16. However, it is apparent that thesuspending' means could bevariedwithout departing from the invention.

A double-acting piston is carried 'for "reciprocable movement withincylinder 13 and has a downwardly extending piston rod l1 "projectingfrom the lower end of saidcylinder. Pipes IB'an'd H! are connected tothe topand bottomportions of said cylinder and are connected to asuitable source of fluidgeither hydraulic or pneumatiaior lowering orraising the piston and piston rod. A suitable control station havingvalves for applying fluid pressure to the cylinder is provided at aconvenient location above floor H].

A pair of vertically disposed guides 20 extend between guide bracket anda base 21 there-V beneath. A ram 22 is carried by the lower .ex-

tremity of piston rod l1 and has vertically dis-- posed guide plates 23that'engage guides for constraining movement to a vertical path. Ram 22includes right angular-1y related, horizontal cross arms 24 and 25, eachof which has aiplurality of longitudinally spaced apertures '26 in itsouter end portion, herein illustrated as three in number, Figures 4 and5. v

Floor ID has apertures 21 vertically aligned with apertures 26. Aplurality of ropes or. cables 28 extend between the floor and 'the ramand pass through apertures ZBIand. 21. Said-ropes- 'have'bjights 29above the floor apertures rwhich.

provide attaching .me'anssvfor bundle engaging hooks 30 and also formenlargements that. prevent the ropes dropping. through the floor when,

preferably with its vertical axis aligned with that of cylinder 13.

The operation of a bundle compressing apparatus constructed asdesoribeidand methods of furnace charging involving its use are. asfollows:

With ram '22 in its uppermost positiomna plurality of bundles l2 ofloosely packed wire or rod are conveyed to support 32 by suitable meansand deposited thereon. The number of bundles may conveniently be themaximum number that can be charged in one pile in compressed conditionin the furnace,

of free movement is sufiicient to enable the hooks to be placed over thetop bundle;

Fluid pressure is applied to cylinder l3 through pipe [8 above thepiston. The piston, piston rod l1 and ram 22 are thereby lowered. Ropes.

28 to which hooks 30 are attached are thereby pulled down and tensionedand compress bundles [2 against the floor via platform '32.

The wire or rod is thereby packed tightly in the bundles with aresulting reduction in the vertical dimension of up to 20 per cent.After the bundles are compressed, they are tied with band wire, thepiston is operated upwardly, the hooks are removed from the compressedbundles, andthelatter are chargedto the furnace.

{From'thl foregoing description. it is apparent we have provided animproved and simplified device for compressing bundlesof wire-pr rod.The working parts are situated in an out-of-theway location and do notoccupy needed floor space. When the bundles are compressed, thecapacity. of the normalizing furnace is increased by one. or twobundles. Hence, there is a corresponding saving inthe cost of thenormalizing treatment.

IWhile we have disclosed but a single apparatus and-,method itisvapparent that both may be subject to modification without departingfrom the, invention. Therefore, we do not wish to be limited to thedisclosure set forth, but only by the scope of the appended claims.

f We claim: 1 An apparatus for compressing annular bundlesof wire or rodcomprising fluid pressure means adapted to be suspended beneath a floorand including a vertically reciprocable piston and pistonrod, aplurality of arcuately spaced ropes occupying more than one plane.radially of said piston rod and adapted to extend through apertures inthe floor above said fluid pressure means, a ram fixed to said pistonrod and having apertures in more than one radial plane corresponding tothe spacing of said ropes and slidably receiving said ropes, stops onsaid ropes,

beneath said ram,'and separate bundle engaging means on each ofsaidropes adapted to engage over the top of an annular bundle, the

downward movement of said ram tensioningthe ropes'having their engagingmeans engaged with a bundle and thereby compressing the bundle.

- 2. An ap aratus for compressing annular bundles of wire or rodcomprising fluid pressure means adapted to be suspended beneath a floorand including a vertically reciprocable piston and .a downwardlyextending piston rod, a ram including a pair of right angularly relatedhori-c ments on the upper ends of said ropes, and bundle engaging meansconnected to said enlargements adapted to engage over the top of anannular bundle, the downward movement of said ram tensioning the ropeshaving their engaging means engaged with a bundle and therebycompressing the bundle.

3. In combination with a floor, an apparatus for compressing annularbundles of wire or rod comprising fluid pressure means suspended beneaththe floor and including a vertically reciprocable piston and adownwardly extending piston rod, a ram fixed to the lower extremity ofsaid piston rod, a plurality of arcuately spaced ropes occupying morethan one plane radially of said pistonrod, said ram having apertures inmore than, oneradial plane corresponding with the spacing of 'said ropesslidably receiving said ropes, said floor having apertures through whichsaid ropes extend, stops on said ropes beneath said -ra1n,and separatebundle engaging means on each of said ropes abovesaid floor adapted toengage over the top of a bundle, the

tically aligned with the apertures infsaidcrossv members, arcuatelyspaced ropes slidably extending through said aligned apertures in saidcross members and floor, stops on said ropes beneath said cross members,enlargements on'said ropesl above said floor, and bundle engaging meansconnected to said enlargements adapted to en-- gage over the. top of anannular buhdlejthe" downward movement of said ram tensioning'the ropeshaving their engaging means engaged with a bundle and thereby.compressing thev bundle.

' .VERN' N ILHSTROH Q I EUGENE 'R. KELLY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in file of thispatent:

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